1997-98 Photos - New and Raised Garage Arches

Beginning the New Garage Arch

Above...what might be called the "before" photo at the beginning of the 1997-98 season. The task at hand: to raise the existing garage arch (seen at the left edge of the above photo), and to construct a new arch next to it where the old helium/cargo arch used to be. At right, a photo of both arches in 1996-97 before the helium/cargo arch was removed. Needless to say, the space it had occupied had been completely filled with snow over the winter. So the first task was to dig everything out.

Like so...by this point about 90 percent of the snow had been moved out...

...at least partway, as can be seen looking downwind. The passageway connection to the helium/cargo arch had been left for the winter.

Here's a closer look through that passageway .

The skiway side of the garage arch was dug out as well, and the downwind bulkhead removed.

A closer look at the skiway side.

Then the upwind bulkhead was removed.

What things looked like inside the garage arch. This fuel piping would need to be dealt with several times between now and 2012.

The new arch pad is down to grade, and the passageway has been removed.

At this point (early December), core samples of the new garage arch indicated that the snow was not dense or uniform enough to begin setting the footers for the new arch, so a good deal more work was needed.

The passage opening has been closed up (well, there were lots of old spare arch sections around), stiffener channels have been attached...and the new arch pad is ready for...some arch sections.

And here comes the first one.

The first arch section was erected on about 22 December.

Ready to set it on the foundation pads.

A few days later, three sections had been bolted down. Hmmm, I don't remember that sled.

Bolting up on top.

Next, time to install the upwind bulkhead...

...while it is still within easy reach of the Mantis. Meanwhile, note that the garage arch has been cribbed up...more on that later.

Bulkhead installation continues.

And the upwind bulkhead is done, except for the ventilation.

Lots of work to do yet, so keep going. All the photos on this page are from Chris Rock.